The 10 best tech cars of 2012

Toyota Prius: The standard-bearer hybrid keeps getting better

Toyota made it safe, as well as cool, to buy a hybrid. When the first Toyota Prius arrived in 2000, battery life and safety in crashes were concerns, as was resale value. The current, third generation, Prius is the highest-mpg car you can buy: 51 mpg city, 48 mpg highway (a big improvement), 50 mpg combined. Unlike many other hybrids that are modified gas-engine cars, when passersby see a Prius, they know you’re driving a hybrid.

Over the years, Toyota realized — perhaps belatedly — that it was leaving money on the table with upscale buyers for whom the selling price was no big issue. Or who wanted more safety to go with high mpg. So Toyota added convenience and driver-assist technology features: head-up display, adaptive cruise control, LED headlamps, and lane departure warning and lane keep assist. The roof can be a solar panel that runs a ventilation system when the Prius is parked outside on a hot, sunny day.

The Prius now offers the Entune smartphone and music integration system. All Prius models, even the $25,000 base Prius Two, have Bluetooth and a USB jack standard; Toyota is making Bluetooth and USB standard, even on its cheapest models such as the Yaris. Toyota also expanded the lineup to include a smaller model Prius C, a larger Prius V, and a plug-in hybrid Prius.

Through continuous improvement, Toyota has boosted the fuel efficiency of the Prius, especially the highway mileage. The basics remain the same: a 1.8-liter gas engine, two electric motors, a NiMH battery pack, and 134 total horsepower, up from 110 hp in the previous Prius. When the car slows or brakes, the car’s kinetic (moving) energy is dissipated by resistance from the generator, which tops off the batteries.

A half-million Toyota Prius hybrids sold in the US also showed that the core technology isn’t inherently difficult to maintain. In fact, Toyota says the failure of the $3,000 main battery pack is virtually nil, other than mechanical failures or collision damage. (If you do need to replace the NiMH battery, don’t sign off on the dealer’s first price quote.) That’s because Toyota decided early on not to discharge below 20-25% and not recharge past 75-80%. It’s the full-to-empty-to-full cycling that kills a cellphone or laptop battery in 500 charges.

Key technology: Toyota’s hybrid technology works and keeps working.

Pros: Great mileage city and highway. Good variety of driver-assist technologies.

Cons: Rear vision with the intruding spoiler remains difficult and still no blind spot detection.

Wow! I’ll take that Tesla if someone helps pay for it. Note, however, there is an alternative plug-electric business model, subscriptions (you do not own the battery, Better Place is responsible for it. Need more range, stop in for a 5-minute exchange!).

My dad (z”l) and I used to service own cars, tune up, adjust carburetors (hey, folks: what’s that?), plugs (spark, that is), etc. When my mom wanted that Toyota, that all ended for good. The seat-of-your-pants only has room for a fat wallet. No-so-hidden price of all this top-class technology.

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The Citroen C6 came with HUD as standard-fit way before BMW offered it as an extra-cost option.

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The Citroen DS (later ones) came with curve light. About 30-40 years before BMW invented it.

The biggest obstacles to electric cars is the cost and capacity of batteries, which has been the case for over a century. Except for the battery, an EV should cost less than a gas powered vehicle. The problem with the Tesla is its exorbitant price tag and its inability to travel our Interstates on extended trips at anything beyond an average speed of 45 MPH or thereabouts, which makes Elon Musk’s premature claims about equality with ICE vehicles totally inane. Elon Musk is a salesman, which should be obvious to anyone frequenting his company’s website. As for energy consumption claims, that all depends … I think one of Tesla’s enthusiastic Vice Presidents once said that the mileage costs ” could be as low as 2 cents per mile.” Actually, that’s the amount of road taxes that electric cars are cheating the govt out of, but must pay at some point (some states already are taxing electric cars. He also neglected that not-so-small issue of battery costs, which are astoundingly high, according to Tesla’s prices for replacement. And its doubtful that electricity costs will run 2 cents per mile, even when charged the national average of 12 cents per Kwhr. More likely the energy consumption will be around 2 miles per Kwhr,or 6 cents per mile, three times greater than Tesla’s ridiculous claims. And in consumer ripoff states like California and Hawaii ( 35 cents per kWhr) it actually costs more to fuel an electric car than a gas powered job at $4 per gallon. And that doesn’t include road taxes or battery deterioration costs.
Anyone who thinks they will save money driving an electric car is out of touch..

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